{"id":2498,"date":"2018-12-03T20:20:07","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T00:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/?p=2498"},"modified":"2018-12-03T20:22:30","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T00:22:30","slug":"guyana-and-antigua-and-barbuda-raise-concerns-regarding-sale-of-scotiabank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/03\/guyana-and-antigua-and-barbuda-raise-concerns-regarding-sale-of-scotiabank\/","title":{"rendered":"Guyana And Antigua And Barbuda Raise Concerns Regarding Sale Of Scotiabank"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments, recently, expressed some unease at the announcement that the Canadian-based Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) had agreed to sell its operations in nine Caribbean countries to a Trinidad-based financial institution.<\/p>\n<p>The Antigua and Barbuda government said it was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d that the Bank of Nova Scotia would decide to sell its operations, here, \u201cwithout any form of consultation with the regulators or the Finance Minister\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Guyana government said the agreement \u201craises a number of issues for the banking sector in Guyana and for the public, which the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Guyana and the government of Guyana will need to carefully consider\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Trinidad-based Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) said it had entered into an agreement to acquire Scotiabank\u2019s banking operations in nine Caribbean countries.<\/p>\n<p>A RFHL statement said that the banks being acquired are located in Guyana, St. Maarten, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/p>\n<p>It said that the purchase price is US$123 million, which represents US$25 million consideration for total shareholding of Scotiabank Anguilla Limited; and a premium of US$98 million over net asset value for operations in the remaining eight countries.<\/p>\n<p>But in a letter sent to Suzan Snaggs-Wilson, Scotiabank General Manager here, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that he was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u2019 at the manner in which the sale had gone through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of my government, I advise that I am deeply disappointed that the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia would decide to sell its operations in Antigua and Barbuda, without any form of consultation with the regulators or the Finance Minister, whose agreement and authority for such a sale are required, by law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am further deeply concerned that the Bank of Nova Scotia would spring such an important decision on the people of Antigua and Barbuda, particularly its many clients, who have displayed great loyalty to the bank for almost 50 years, providing it with significant profits,\u201d Browne wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He said that he was now informing the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia \u201cthat their decision to sell the operations in Antigua and Barbuda, without the requisite consultation and agreement of the regulators and the government of Antigua and Barbuda, is unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould the Bank of Nova Scotia wish to divest its operations in Antigua and Barbuda, it would be necessary to seek the government\u2019s approval.\u00a0 In this connection, my government would strongly commend that such divestment should be offered first to local banks as the priority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndeed, I am aware that, notwithstanding the unexpectedness of Bank of Nova Scoria\u2019s announcement, a consortium of such banks has already expressed an affirmative interest to acquire (its operations here),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Browne said that his government now expects \u201ca formal application by the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia for the terms of any divestment, including a reasonable time to identify new local owners, and assurances of the safety of the assets and investments of local clients\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Guyana government said the agreement \u201craises a number of issues\u201d and that it had taken note of the announcement of the agreement for control of Scotiabank.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Finance, in a statement, said that \u201cthis move is not Guyana-specific and is part of a region-wide refocussing by Scotiabank\u201d, and that it has also taken note of the statement by RFHL that the agreement is \u201csubject to all regulatory approvals\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The statement said that the Financial Institutions Act (FIA) has clear stipulations regarding \u201cacquisition of control\u201d and requires approval of the Bank of Guyana, following the submission of an application and due diligence being conducted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFurther the FIA addresses as well, the issue of \u201cfundamental changes\u201d as it relates to mergers and transfer of assets or liabilities. The agreement raises a number of issues for the banking sector in Guyana and for the public, which the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Guyana and the government of Guyana will need to carefully consider,\u201d the Ministry of Finance said.<\/p>\n<p>It said these include Republic Bank currently holding 35.4 percent of the banking system\u2019s assets and 36.8 percent of deposits, and the acquisition will up this to 51 percent of both assets and deposits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis raises concerns about an over-concentration of banking services, market domination and the \u201ctoo big to fail\u2019 risks\u201d, the Ministry of Finance said, adding it will also have to take into consideration \u201cthe effect on competition and the potential for Republic Bank to have too much influence on pricing of banking products and rates\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It said that issues, related to correspondent banking options, loss of jobs with Republic Bank likely to consolidate branches and that \u201cthe Scotiabank decision, which is made when Guyana\u2019s economy is on the cusp of financial transformation with the onset of a massive new oil and gas sector, raises concerns and is regretted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ministry of Finance wishes to assure that it will continue to stay abreast of this matter, will act in the best interest of the Guyanese people and will issue subsequent updates as necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments, recently, expressed some unease at the announcement that the Canadian-based Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) had agreed to sell its operations in nine Caribbean countries to a Trinidad-based financial institution. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/03\/guyana-and-antigua-and-barbuda-raise-concerns-regarding-sale-of-scotiabank\/\" title=\"Guyana And Antigua And Barbuda Raise Concerns Regarding Sale Of Scotiabank\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-home","8":"category-regional-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg",600,338,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg",600,338,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-content":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=326%2C245&ssl=1",326,245,true],"mh-magazine-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gaston-Browne-CMC.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1",80,60,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a 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